Democrats will find it difficult to motivate the young voters they need to maintain control of the House and Senate next year if they are unable to pass the significant climate legislation President Joe Biden promised during his campaign, according to a new poll conducted by ALG Research for the NRDC Action Fund.
The survey of younger Democrats and Independents in key battleground districts and states found that nearly half would be less enthusiastic about turning out to vote in the upcoming midterm elections and less enthusiastic about voting for Democrats if major climate provisions are dropped from the Build Back Better Act. But by an 8-to-1 margin, these same voters said they would be more enthusiastic about turning out for Democrats if reconciliation legislation strongly supported Biden’s climate agenda.
“Younger voters will need a reason to turn out to vote in 2022, and our poll found if Democrats do not fulfill their promise to take bold action on this crisis, they could put their majority in jeopardy,” said Kayla Calkin, political director for the NRDC Action Fund. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do the right thing. Congress and President Biden must act now for our future.”
Overwhelming majorities of those surveyed – 86 percent – agreed with the statement, “Joe Biden and Democrats made a promise in the last election to take bold action on climate change, and I expect them to honor that promise.”
The poll of 800 Democratic and Independent low-propensity voters was conducted in all of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Frontline” House districts, and statewide in five Senate battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
